The Rex Exoskeleton lets people with impaired mobility (such as those confined to wheelchairs) stand up and walk. Patients use a control pad and a joystick to control 29 onboard processors that determine their balance and leg movements. The exoskeleton consists of a set of leg braces, straps, and a harness, all powered by a battery pack. With their hands free, users can stand, sit, turn, and walk on flat surfaces, slopes, and stairs. A fully charged battery pack allows walking for up to two hours. The exoskeleton, made by RexBionics of New Zealand, weighs 84 pounds (38kg).(Source: Rex Bionics)

Rick, thanks for sharing your wife's experience. We keep hearing that robotic-assisted surgery helps speed accuracy and healing--DN has covered the daVinci system several times--but it's hard to know how much of that's hype or reality.

A few months ago, my wife had internal surgery with the surgeon using the da Vinci Surgical System. Instead of one week in the hospital to recover, she was out in one day...in fact she was in no post-op pain by the time she left the hospital.

Of course when the doctor told us in advance that the da Vinci Surgical System would be used, we investigated. The cost of the machine is about $1.5 million each, and made in California.

Read and watch the videos to find out more about the robotic surgical system.

Ann, as of now robotic assisted procedures are widely accepted in most of the super specialty hospitals. But when it comes for a fully robotic done procedure without a human (Doctor) intervention, peoples may get little bit sacred about it (mindset). Eventhough error chances are less in procedure done by robotics; people always have a fear to opt for that.

What robotics has done for the medical industry in unprecedented. When I saw a medical robot alter someone's eye to correct the vision without human interaction, I was blow away. And that was almost 8 years ago. The da'vinci robot is another example, aiding doctors to be more precise and controlled. Shakey hands are a worry of the past. Watch some of the da'vinvi robot videos on youtube, and you will agree. More robots are needed.

Ann, you are right. As of now robots are assisting the surgeons and nurses for carrying out certain task in surgical room and they won't capable to handle any task independently. But no doubt, in future they can with little bit of analytical and fuzzy logic.

Morris, what a terrifying thought--but it also gave me a laugh. Let's hope it's not Windows... We've written about the da Vinci system several times on the DN site, including our earlier medical robot slideshow: http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=240513

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